The Living Unit at Thameside prison (formally known as Belmarsh West) was the world’s first, for prison construction, to achieve BREEAM “Outstanding” and won a BREEAM award for the Prison's category at the Ecobuild Awards.

We were appointed as M&E design consultants on this 70,000m² facility, which was part of a complete new build prison comprising of 10 new prison buildings including a sports hall, reception, kitchen, vocational training workshops and a health and education unit.  To enhance design and eliminate abortive work, Building Information Modelling (BIM) and in particular 3D modelling was used to support design and construction.

The Living Unit is a four-storey precast concrete framed building providing 600 prison cells, dining and association space, and ancillary office and building management spaces, with the plant room in the roof void.  The facility is enclosed by a 5.2m high wall around the entire site.

All buildings at the £96M facility were required to achieve a minimum BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ as a contract requirement, reflecting the team’s commitment to sustainability.

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